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Live Webinar

Addiction Interaction Disorder

Sherry Young, PhD, CSAT
JR Gallegos, MSW, LAC, SWC
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Information

Date & Time

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Describe the Venn diagram model and its three interacting domains of addiction, psychiatric illness, and trauma within the surrounding context of family systems.

  • Differentiate shared symptoms from underlying causes when assessing clients affected by more than one condition.

  • Identify at least two strategies in each of four domains, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and relational, that support recovery across disorders.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this workshop is to use the Venn diagram model as a practical heuristic for assessing and treating clients affected by addiction, psychiatric illness, and trauma within the context of family systems. The goal is comprehensive assessment and treatment that addresses underlying causes rather than only managing symptoms.

Description

Most clients don't walk in with one clean diagnosis. Addiction, psychiatric illness, and trauma share common symptoms, mirror one another, and interact in ways that complicate assessment and treatment. This presentation introduces a simple visual model, the Venn diagram developed by Julio I. Rojas, PhD, that helps clinicians and clients see the whole picture at once. It's a practical heuristic for comprehensive assessment, client education, and ongoing accountability, so treatment can address causes rather than only manage symptoms.

Attendees will explore why a visual model works, the three domains of addiction, psychiatric illness, and trauma within the context of family systems, how shared symptoms complicate diagnosis, and how to apply the model in session through education, skills building, and monitoring, with practical strategies by domain and recovery practices mapped to the brain.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Sherry Young, PhD, CSAT
Sherry Young, Ph.D., CSAT, has worked in the behavioral health field for 21 years as a clinical liaison, providing triage, assessment, admissions referral, and advocacy for clients of licensed therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists who treat mental health and addictive disorders. She has worked for various organizations in the Behavioral Health and Addictions field and founded right fit COLLABORATIVE in 2018. Since then, she has worked with a handful of highly vetted, clinically excellent treatment providers who are leaders in the field and implement the most current evidence-based treatment modalities to serve the needs of her referents’ clients. Dr. Young holds an Interdisciplinary Doctorate in Psychology and English from the Institute of Philosophic Studies, University of Dallas. She taught psychology and literature at the college level from 1986 to 1994 and directed university study programs in Rome, Italy, from 1994 to 1997. Dr. Young is a visionary, a highly skilled educator, a strategist in business development, and an advocate for recovery and personal growth. She inspires excellence and collaboration in all of her relationships. Still, she considers her 28-plus years of sobriety the foundation of all achievement. She believes that her sobriety and her ongoing work to address and heal her family’s intergenerational trauma are her greatest gifts to her four children and six grandchildren.
JR Gallegos, MSW, LAC, SWC
JR Gallegos, MSW, LAC, SWC, is a behavioral health leader specializing in addiction treatment, mental health stabilization, and early recovery. His clinical approach emphasizes trauma-informed, evidence-based care, psychiatric collaboration, medication adherence, and helping clients successfully transition from active addiction into long-term recovery. Originally from New Mexico, he is passionate about family-systems healing, strengthening support networks, and helping individuals and families build sustainable recovery and an improved quality of life.